Since 1997, the Evangelische Akademie Tutzing and its circle of friends have invited people to the “Pulpit Speech” twice a year in the Church of the Redeemer at the Münchner Freiheit. Joachim Gauck, Gesine Schwan, Markus Söder, Harald Lesch and Doris Dörrie were already in the pulpit. Last week it was the turn of Katja Wildermuth, Director General of Bayerischer Rundfunk. Not an easy task in a phase in which the public broadcasters are particularly under attack, triggered by – let’s call it at this point – a fall from grace on the part of RBB.
Wildermuth only briefly mentioned this “elephant” in the nave in her speech. It is “undisputed that real institutional misconduct must be transparently uncovered and eliminated,” she said. She is undoubtedly aware of the damage that these transgressions are causing, especially at this time. Now that the credibility and integrity of public service media – like that of classic daily newspapers – are doubted by conspiracy believers and other groups anyway.
The importance of reliable, independent media – as they were designed after the experiences of the Nazi dictatorship – is more important than ever for the preservation of democracy, said Wildermuth. Who else researches sources, second opinions, scientific classifications? Who shows possible solutions, in the sense of “constructive journalism”? And who sees through the algorithms on which every search result and social feed is based, in the end only pursuing a (single) goal, “keeping users on the respective platforms for as long as possible, tapping data, selling advertising”. Nevertheless, Wildermuth sees no alternative to the digital transformation. To be able to do that, she said, “we have to prioritize and balance generations, even at the risk of alienating loyal audiences here and there.”
Meanwhile, not all players on the market are thinking that much. Platforms that initially emerged purely as technology service providers and have so far officially refused to recognize their journalistic role are now having a decisive impact on the formation of opinions in society. But “without being subject to the same requirements as conventional media companies,” complained Wildermuth. She did not ask at this point why these platforms are still getting away with it. The only thing that is clear is that it may end up being fatal – but at least it’s not nice.